德國學者傳教士衛理賢畢生致力於翻譯我國古籍，把中華文化精華介紹給西方世界。在儒家經典中，衛氏翻譯了「論語」、「禮記」、「孔子家語」等著作。在「論語」譯文中，衛氏體悟出「仁」概念為基礎與核心，故用了德文的「德」「愛」「人性」，乃致於宗教概念的「虔敬」。由於衛氏體認出「論語」是道德進路的著作，而「仁」又是「諸德之首」，甚至是「諸德之和」，故多用「德」來譯「仁」。又因「仁」重實踐，故在「發仁」時用基督宗教的「愛」譯出。衛氏的文化傳教工作，可謂仁智兼備。

　　　　　Richard Wilhelm, (1873-1930) was a German scholar and missionary. He did translation work throughout his entire life. He translated most of the Chinese classics into German. These translations included most of the Confucian classics such as The Analects, The Book of Rites, and The Words of Wisdom. Wilhelm considered “Ren” to be the most central and fundamental concept in Confucian philosophy. He used many different terms such as, Sittlichkeit, Tugend, Liebe, Menschentum and even the religious word Frommigkeit in rendering it into German. He acknowledged that the concept “Ren” was oriented toward practice more than theory. As he was a Christian missionary, he tended to compare the Confucian concept of “Ren” with the Christian notions of love and charity. This article is divided into three main parts; moral orientation, “Ren” and virtue, and “Ren” and the person who practices “Ren”.